How Much Water Do Dairy Cows Drink Per Day

June 7, 2021

How much water should a cow drink every day?

Picture of Dr. Scott Tripp By · 2 infinitesimal read

When we talk well-nigh how much h2o a cow should drinkable every day, nosotros need to talk well-nigh how much a lactating moo-cow drinks versus a dry moo-cow. Since milk is high in water, the water requirements of a lactating cow are closely related to milk production. In that location are many factors, only a dry out cow should drink 9 to 12 gallons a day. A lactating cow should potable 30 to 40 gallons mean solar day.

How much water does a lactating cow drinkable?

The amount of water a lactating cow can potable is often dependent on how often they are drinking. Typically, nosotros expect them to drink x to 20 liters of water per visit to the trough. All the same, too frequency, there are many factors that alter the amount of water a moo-cow tin can drink:

Milk production - Generally cows need iv to four.5 liters of water per kilogram of milk they produce.
The cow size.
Quantity of Dry Matter Consumed - The water intake accounts for 90% of their daily requirement.
Moisture content of the dry matter consumed.
Temperature and relative humidity.
Temperature of the water.
Salinity of the water and the corporeality of table salt consumed – the totally dissolved solids should exist less than thousand ppm.

The Equation

To figure out how much water a cow should potable, there is actually an accepted equation from the 2001 National Ruminate Commission. First, yous'll demand to understand that one pound of water is 16 fluid ounces or 453.6 milliliters.

Here is the equation:

Water intake, pounds/twenty-four hours	=	35.25 + 1.58 x dry matter intake (pounds per caput per 24-hour interval)
	+	.ninety ten milk yield (pounds per caput per day)
	+	.11 ten sodium intake (grams per day)
	+	2.65 x weekly mean minimum temperature (degrees F/i.8-17.778)

Okay… what does that mean?

In plain English it states:

For each pound change in dry matter intake, the cow volition consume more or less ane.58 lbs. of water.
For each pound of milk produced, water will go upwardly .ix of a pound. (For those that don't weight lift milk, the conversion is i ¾ cups (1.85 cups) of milk per pound.)
For each gram of sodium consumed, water will go up .11 pounds.
For each caste of Fahrenheit, water goes up 1.47 pounds.

How much h2o does a dry out moo-cow drink?

The major factors affecting dry cow intake is:

the concentration of dry matter in the diet,
dry out matter intake,
and the amount of protein in the diet.

So, if we take a big Holstein dry cow at a temperature betwixt fifty F to fourscore F consuming 28 pounds of dry matter at 12 % moisture and 12 % crude protein… she would eat 96 pounds of water (11.6 gallons).

If the temperature is in the oestrus stress range, it could exist 1.two to two times higher.

If it's hot outside, should cows have cold water?

This is an interesting additional idea… every bit humans, nosotros all like something cold when nosotros are hot.

The problem is that cows are non humans… In fact it is important to understand that cows are really fermentation vats—call up of a 55 gallon pulsate making beer.

Temperature becomes critical considering of the rumen and its population of bacteria and protozoans. There are studies with rumen bolus that bear witness that h2o tin alter the fermentation process for a long time. This alters stop products by changing the population growth and types of bacteria.

This mail is part 2 of a 2 part article on water.
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